“The Cynical Genius Illusion: Exploring and Debunking Lay Beliefs About Cynicism and Competence”, Olga Stavrova, Daniel Ehlebracht2018-07-11 (IQ & SES, cognitive bias, personality, sociology)⁠:

Cynicism refers to a negative appraisal of human nature—a belief that self-interest is the ultimate motive guiding human behavior. We explored laypersons’ beliefs about cynicism and competence and to what extent these beliefs correspond to reality.

4 studies showed that laypeople tend to believe in cynical individuals’ cognitive superiority.

A further 3 studies based on the data of about 200,000 individuals from 30 countries debunked these lay beliefs as illusory by revealing that cynical (vs. less cynical) individuals generally do worse on cognitive ability and academic competency tasks.

Cross-cultural analyses showed that competent individuals held contingent attitudes and endorsed cynicism only if it was warranted in a given sociocultural environment. Less competent individuals embraced cynicism unconditionally, suggesting that—at low levels of competence—holding a cynical worldview might represent an adaptive default strategy to avoid the potential costs of falling prey to others’ cunning.

[Keywords: cynicism, competence, lay theories, social perception]

See Also:

• Generosity Pays: Selfish People Have Fewer Children And Earn Less Money

• The development of cynicism

• Populist Gullibility: Conspiracy Theories, News Credibility, Bullshit Receptivity, and Paranormal Belief

• Myths and misconceptions about intelligence: A study of 35 myths

• The Relation Between Intelligence and Religiosity: A Meta-Analysis and Some Proposed Explanations

• The Negative Relationship between Reasoning and Religiosity Is Underpinned by a Bias for Intuitive Responses Specifically When Intuition and Logic Are in Conflict

• Believers in pseudoscience present lower evidential criteria

• Conspiracy mentality and political orientation across 26 countries

• General Intelligence and the Dark Triad: A Meta-Analysis